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Trump’s former chief strategist, Bannon, indicted
Ex-President Donald Trump’s chief strategist Stephen Bannon has been charged with disregard for Congress. A congressional committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol had summoned Bannon. However, Bannon did not comply with the summons, as the US Department of Justice announced on Friday. Trump’s longtime ally refuses to work with the House of Representatives special committee that is demanding testimony and documents from him. The committee chairs said the indictment against Bannon should send a clear message to anyone who believed they could ignore the special committee or try to block the investigation: no one is above the law. A Justice Department spokesman said Stephen Bannon is expected to face himself in Washington on Monday and appear in court for the first time that afternoon. Disregard of Congress is an offense punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of no more than $ 100,000. Ex-President Trump had tried to block the committee investigating Trump’s actions in connection with the deadly Capitol riot. He had also instructed his former employees not to cooperate. The charges against Bannon could now mean that the committee could still receive testimony and documents from other Trump employees. Steve Bannon was Trump’s chief strategist and his top advisor in the 2016 presidential election campaign until 2017. He was accused of diverting money in connection with a fundraising campaign for the construction of the border wall to Mexico that Trump was driving. The ex-president then dismissed Bannon, but pardoned him in January 2021 a few hours before he left office.
Stephen Bannon has now been charged with disregard for Congress for failing to comply with the summons of the Committee of Inquiry into the storming of the Capitol.